Dreams and Memories
by Henry Vyne
Summary: "There's something about you, Merlin. I can't quite put my finger on it." For nearly eight years now, Arthur's been trying to place that something. It's almost as if it's a distance memory, that he can't quite seem to recognize. Finally, it clicks in his head. He had definitely met Merlin before. Kid!Merlin Kid!Arthur Oneshot


I couldn't get to sleep tonight because I had the ending of Merlin stuck on repeat in my head. So, I stayed up all night and out of the blue came up with this. Enjoy!

* * *

"What are you doing?! These are_ my _chambers!"

Needless to say, Arthur was not at all happy at the sight before him. His box of play things was lying on its side, its contents strewn all across the floor, his cupboard of clothing was open with various tunics and trousers spilling out of it, his bed was as unmade as a bed could possibly be, and in the center of it all, playing with _Arthur's _toys, wearing _Arthur's _clothes over his own, black hair tousled fiercely from rolling around in _Arthur's _bed, was Hunith's little imp. 

Now, Arthur had nothing against Hunith whatsoever, aside from her little urchin of course. In fact, even though she'd only been visiting Gaius for about a week and this was the first time Arthur had ever met her, she had the lovely motherly quality about her that Arthur, even at the age of six, yearned for. He spent most his time in Gaius' chambers as to spend more time with her. He had also taken to bossing Merlin about on little chores to try and keep Hunith all to himself. That's actually why Merlin was in Arthur's chambers in the first place. 

Hunith had been sitting on Gauis' rocking chair, one boy on each side of her lap, telling them stories. However, Arthur wasn't satisfied with only one half. So he said that if Merlin brought back his toy wooden sword from his play box, he could play with it on the floor, leaving Hunith all to himself. And as Merlin was obviously one of the more dull children he had met, Arthur figured he'd get lost somewhere in the castle. Then Arthur could finally have Hunith for a few hours without the incessant distractions of... well, Merlin. 

What Arthur_ hadn't _counted on was Hunith getting worried about her son. Seriously, why would anyone possibly miss him? She started setting down Arthur from her lap, and in a quick attempt to look valiant and brave, he volunteered to go look for him himself. He basked in the mild praise and compliments, the endearing terms of him being a courageous knight, before setting off in search of that pale weakling. It wasn't 'til he was 10 minutes into scouting around the castle that he stopped dead in his tracks and realised that his first maiden in a tower, his first damsel in distress, his first daring rescue, was going to be for_ Mer_lin. Merlin! He had half a mind to turn around and march right back to where he came from. But if he had ever learnt anything, he had learnt that it was never right to give up or go back on his word. 

So, there he found himself, in the doorway to his chambers, looking at his very own maiden in a tower with Arthur's baggy blue shirt hanging off his shoulders and brown trousers slipping down past his hips. Merlin scrunched fistfuls of the fabric into his small hands and hefted the trousers far up to his waist, holding them there while staring almost expectantly at Arthur. The young prince couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight, his anger temporarily fading away.

"You're such a girl, Merlin." 

"I am not!" 

"Yes you are! You're even holding your 'skirts' up like one."

Merlin looked down and saw that Arthur was indeed right. He let go in a hurry, trousers falling down to his ankles, revealing his own worn out pair that he was wearing below Arthur's. Merlin didn't need any more teasing as far as he was concerned. He had enough of it in Ealdor for his smooth pale skin, bright blue eyes, fair dark hair. It's not his fault he couldn't play outside for too long! He sunburned easily! 

Arthur's trousers pooling around the younger child's feet and the almost horrified look on Merlin's face when he realised that Arthur was right set the latter into a fit of laughter. When he had finally calmed down, the furious heated blush of humiliation and embarrassment on Merlin's face set Arthur into another and even fiercer bout. Finally, Arthur had calmed down enough to continue his little bickering session with his least favourite person of the face of the planet.

With his hands behind his back, Arthur walked appraisingly around Merlin in circles for a few times, every once in a while honing in on a specific part of him before giving a disapproving shake of his head, making sure to make it clearly noticeable to Merlin, and then continuing in his circle. He wasn't really appraising anything at all, he just liked the feeling of authority he got when he pretended to. 

"Tell me, _Mer_lin. What were you doing playing dress-up with my things?" 

"I wasn't playing dress-up!" Merlin immediately insisted. The sounded far too girly. He ignored the smug smirk on Arthur's face and continued speaking. "I was playing royalty." 

Arthur scoffed at the immaturity of this silly peasant. "_Royalty_ isn't a game. It's a responsibility to be taken seriously." He said quoting his father. "Don't be such and idiot." 

Without warning Merlin pounced on Arthur, quickly pinning him to the floor. However, it was only the element of surprise that gave Merlin the starting advantage. Now that that was gone, Arthur quickly was on top of him, pulling his hair with one hand and pinning both of his hands above his head with the other. When Merlin started shrieking like a dying banshee, Arthur quickly released his hold on a clump of his hair and placed his now free hand over Merlin's mouth. 

"Agh!" Arthur rolled off of Merlin as quickly as he could, vigorously wiping his palm off on his shirt. "You _licked_ me!" 

At the sounds of footsteps approaching, the boys quickly straightened up and tried to look as dignified as possible. When it was only Hunith who walked through the door, they both relaxed somewhat. 

"Are you alright, Merlin? You looked flushed." Hunith scooped her son into her arms. 

"I'm okay, Mum. Just a little tired." When Hunith turned her back, Merlin seized his opportunity and stuck his tongue out a pouting Arthur. 

"You two play nice," She said while setting Merlin down. "I'm going to help Gaius with some of his errands and I expect you to look after each other while I'm gone." 

After she had left Arthur and Merlin glared daggers at each other before Arthur hopped up onto his bed. "Hurry up then, Merlin. Time to clean up the mess you've made. Morgana's coming in two days and I need this room clean for when she gets here." 

"I'm not your servant to boss around." Merlin grumbled while walking away. 

"You are now, and as your prince I'm ordering you to clean this mess up." 

Merlin turned around and gave a mocking bow. "I'm from Essetir, _sire._ Not Camelot. You are not my prince." 

"Well, you're in Camelot now, _Merlin_. Now do as I say or I'll put you in the stocks for a week." 

Merlin grumbled about as he started putting the toys back in their chest and incompetently stuffing clothes back into the cupboard.

* * *

Arthur awoke to Merlin pulling the blinds back, letting the unwelcome sunlight stream across his face. The king followed the usual routine and placed a pillow over his face, only to have Merlin yank it off seconds later. Arthur was tempted to pull his servant's hand down and lick it as get backs, but he had no idea where it had been and the thought of putting his tongue anywhere near anywhere of Merlin was too much to think about that early in the morning. So instead he settled with a well aimed goblet to the face and a trip to Gauis' later to see if it was just a strange dream, or if Merlin did actually visit when they were children. 

"I'm surprised you remember," Gaius had said. "It was a great many years ago." 

"How old would Merlin have been then?" 

Gaius sighed heavily and contemplated his answer. "Four?" He guessed. 

That seemed about right. The rest of the day, Arthur eyed his servant with a strange fascination, that did not go unnoticed by Merlin. Thinking about it now, Merlin hadn't really changed all that much since he was a child. Arthur wondered if Merlin remembered his trip to Camelot at all. That night, Arthur slept happily, content that he had more of a memory during his sleep than a totally obscure dream about himself and his servant running around his castle as children.


End file.
